Page Nine

Friday, September 20, 2013

We all mourn the events at Washington's Navy Yard on Monday that left 13 people dead, but knee-jerk reactions like that ofStarbucksare not effective.

After three years of allowing gun owners to celebrateStarbucks Appreciation Day,
openly carrying their guns inside stores located in states with "open
carry" laws, Starbucks abruptly reversed its position. Inan "open letter" from Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz,
the company said it will not forbid guns in its stores, but will
"respectful[ly] request that customers no longer bring firearms into our
stores or outdoor seating areas". In other words, gun owners aren't all
that welcome any more and may one day be banned.

Gun owners had developed an affinity for Starbucks, with some fans creating a modified version of the Starbucks logo that says "I love guns and coffee".
For years, Starbucks has apparently looked the other way at the popular
logo, which spread to T-shirts and coffee mugs. Gun owners organized
the annual Starbucks Appreciation Day in order to reward the company
with more business and publicity. The most recent event took place on 9
August.